First week of school

So I have been asked a bunch about school so I thought I would put this on here. This is what I wrote the family earlier this week about how things have gone. He finished out the week, still on a good note and is flying through his work and being able to progress quickly. I will be able to be there next week with him and I will start more of my training and that will be even cooler to see how things are done. I look forward to it. Here is what I wrote.

Yesterday we had to get up really early. He will have to be up by 6 am to met his bus by 7. They have everyone drive the kids to school on the first day which meant we had to get everybody up and out the door around 7:30. I could tell on the drive he was getting nervous. He was stemming a bit and kept saying his tummy felt funny. When I walked him into the school and all the kids were there he was really apprehensive to go inside. Being at the school reminds me a lot of walking the halls in primary children's hospital. For one thing there are pictures up all over the place of these beautiful autistic children. They do that at Primary's. Another reason is the feeling I have when I am there. Just like Primary's every little face I see is fighting something so much bigger than their little bodies and that breaks my heart, but also they are in a building surrounded by so many people who are dedicated to fighting their hearts out for your child. It is a feeling of hope and sadness at the same time. Also it is amazing to be in a building where Porter can 100% be who he is and no one looks, stares, or says hurtful things about it. In meeting some of the parents I said to them how wonderful it is to be in a place where no matter how my son is acting I don't have to explain myself and how looking around at all the other children in the room, I can feel the same way. It's like a small little place in the world where Porter fits in.
I have gotten lots of questions about where Porter fits in compared to the other kids at the school. I can tell he is really at a good place and on the higher end of things. His classroom is full of kids across the board but I would say too, that the kids in his class seem to be closer functioning to Porter. I was able to see some really beautiful kids yesterday that are quite severe. Some who are so severe they physically cannot walk, or do much without a lot of support. There was a wide range of children but they seem to put them in groups pretty similar to each other to help make the best progress. I noticed that all the children I have met in Porter's class are vocal and seem to have a lot of similar traits to Porter.
A couple other things. He is in a class of 10 kids and there are 5 teachers. Also parents are expected to be there at least once a week. So parents are often in the room. The Occupational and Speech therapists make weekly visits to the class and provide therapy and advice for the teachers. I will be going once a week for a few hours and they will teach me how to do everything they are doing. They already have things I am reading and training myself on.
I get daily notes home. So I am informed pretty well on his progress. It is a little hard to explain how it all works but I am given a sheet of every session throughout the day and a percentage of his performance. I also have information sheets that explain what he is doing in every session so I can see what he is struggling with and where he is succeeding. Yesterday he was getting 100% through every thing except his last session, which I am sure had to do with him being tired. They commented and said he was a rock star.
It was also Nickelle's first day and she had a wonderful time as well. But as I picked her up and she was showing me all her cute pictures and telling me all about Spot the Dog, I got sad for Porter. He is not at school to learn letters and colors, and make friends. He is truly working incredibly hard and they have to push him to points that truly make him miserable so that we can help him break through. It can be hard and sometimes painful to watch. He is the hardest working almost 5 year old I know. I look back and see how far he has come for all the hard work he has done and I am really proud of him. I am so grateful for the doors that have always been opened to him. But there are little moments when I feel sad he can't just be a kid. What a wonderful summer we had and I was so glad he had sometime to be a kid. Now it is back to work and I know it will be great too.